Bohemians 0-0 Shamrock Rovers

Ten-man Shamrock Rovers preserved their unbeaten start to the Airtricity League Premier Division campaign following a sterile 0-0 draw against Dublin rivals Bohemians at Dalymount Park.

The contest opened brightly enough but Foran’s dismissal in the 37th minute after two bookings within six minutes of each other acted as a catalyst for a more defensively orientated contest.

Karl Moore came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 69th minute but Barry Murphy had sufficient time to parry his 25-yard shot to safety.

The hosts enjoyed the more impressive opening with Chris Lyons unfortunate to see his flick from Ryan McEvoy’s delivery cleared to safety by Jason McGuinness in the 3rd minute.

However, the Hoops responded with a half-chance of their own four minutes later as Pat Sullivan’s powerful drive from 25 yards rose narrowly over Dean Delany’s crossbar.

Both sides deserved credit for their attacking intentions as the half progressed but they were being stymied by a tacky surface that mitigated against free-flowing and intricate passing movements.

As a result, chances were few and far between with only the respective cautions of Rovers’ Stephen Rice and the hosts’ Derek Pender raising the temperature as we approached the half-hour mark.

Most of the Bohemians threat was focussed down their left flank with the impressive Luke Byrne especially prominent and from a surging break in the 30th minute, Lyons failed to get sufficient accuracy on Byrne’s inviting centre.

The next two bookings were to prove particularly damaging to the visitors as Foran was correctly dismissed following a brace of clumsy challenges on Lyons and Moore with the centre-half receiving his marching orders eight minutes before the break.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, it was Rovers that created the final two half-chances of the intriguing period with both Karl Sheppard and Shane Robinson firing over to ensure stalemate by the interval.

The initial exchanges upon the resumption lacked the urgency of the opening half although the Hoops showed their attacking intentions when introducing Ciaran Kilduff at the expense of James Chambers in the 57th minute.

The hosts looked increasingly bereft of ideas but Moore handed them a degree of momentum with a well-struck shot in the 69th minute that Barry Murphy palmed to safety at the expense of a fruitless corner-kick.

A couple of goalmouth skirmishes aside, it proved the final attacking note of quality as the Hoops maintained their record of not having conceded in their league campaign to date.